‘There’s no point spending money on our website. We never get any leads from it anyway.’
‘We have a website mainly so people know what we do.’
These quotes sum up the views many B2B businesses I’ve spoken to have about their websites. There’s a sense that they need a website without really being clear about what job they want it to do. It certainly doesn’t have a defined role in lead generation
For what it’s worth, my answers to the above quotes would be: the first is just circular logic and self-defeating (and how do they know that enquiries haven’t at some stage involved people viewing their website?) To the second point I’d just say: what a wasted opportunity, I’ll explain why.
Who is your B2B website for?
Instinctively you might think it’s for your customers. If you sell products through ecom you may well be right. But what if you sell services and software licences? There’s no real value to the customers you already have in visiting your website once you have a relationship.
In most cases your website is for prospects – because it is all about lead generation. And most likely it’s for prospects that are actively considering which potential suppliers they think it’s worth talking to. Your website content’s job is to channel that interest into becoming an enquiry and a lead. And if that’s the case we have to ask another question…
What’s their experience like?
If I trawl through a selection of B2B websites, my thoughts typically go something like this:
Here’s a company talking about itself. Here’s another company talking about itself using words I don’t understand. And here’s a company trying to make itself sound important.
Here’s a company that’s probably also talking about itself in big slabs of text and long sentences I can’t be bothered to read. And here’s one that keeps using the same phrases over and over (must be a hangover from the glory days of SEO).
Oh, hang on, here’s one that explains clearly how they can solve my problems and help my business, and does it with a bit of personality.
Which approach would grab your interest? Which business would you want to talk to? Which would be most effective at lead generation?
Fixing your website, of course, is only part of the story. You still need a plan to get the right people onto it. That will probably be a mix of SEO, content publishing, social and PPC advertising, depending on how many leads you need.
Are B2C and B2B Marketing All That Different?
One of the sources of confusion is the belief that marketing to consumers is fundamentally different to marketing to businesses. Rory Sutherland, Vice Chairman at Ogilvy and head of their Behavioural Science Unit has written extensively about this. Here you can hear him talking about the need to be less rational.
What people tend to believe is that on the one hand we have consumer purchases, driven by emotions and impulses, often anything but rational. On the other, there is B2B. Here we need a business case. Everything is rational and carefully analysed so that people arrive at the optimum decision that is best for the buyer’s business.
The problem is, that’s not how it works. Business buyers are people (shock!). Rather than fear of regret, their actions are driven by fear of being blamed. Organisational biases are hard to overcome and businesses are risk averse.
Your website content is a place to start a different conversation. If you can get their attention and frame their buying thought processes in a different way, you have a chance. Telling them what you do in excruciating detail won’t achieve that.
B2B buying decisions are made by people with multiple distractions screaming for their attention. People with their own emotional needs for security, status, influence, tranquility and happiness.
B2B buyers may rationalise their decisions after the event, but they start with emotional engagement. They are busy – so they look to brands they can remember. They want simplicity – so they stick with suppliers they know. They do this because it’s easier, not out of loyalty.
They want suppliers who are easy (even fun) to work with and who they believe won’t let them down personally. These are human needs.
The buying cycle might be longer. There may be more players in the decision. But you still need emotional engagement. And you still need to work at building a memorable brand if you want sustainable growth.
What is Your Business?
Many see their business in terms of the things it does. Marketing commands relatively little time and budget so it’s seen as less important. Let’s look at it a different way.
Many years ago I read something that turned my business thinking on its head. It was this insight from the legendary Peter Drucker: ‘marketing and innovation are the only core functions of a business, everything else is an overhead.’
At the time I was in operations and business management. I believed that what we produced *was* the business. Ah, the innocence of youth.
The quote makes sense when you understand the breadth of what marketing should be, rather than the narrow activity-focused promotional function it has been shrunk to. It also makes sense when you consider another Drucker quote that says the sole purpose of a business is to create and retain a customer.
Think about that. Doesn’t that put a different complexion on your marketing and lead generation; and on your website content?
Experts in your business, or experts in your market?
Running a business well is about being an expert in your business. Marketing is about becoming an expert in your chosen market segments: how customers behave, what they value and what unmet demands they have.
Master this and you can innovate digital or physical products or your service delivery in ways that add the most value. The promotional part of marketing is then simpler. You no longer have to persuade people to buy something that doesn’t fully meet their needs.
So, a couple of questions to consider: who at a strategic or leadership level truly represents the voice of the market when you plan the future of your business?
And, what drives innovation?
You probably don’t have good answers to those question off the top of your head. When better than now to start finding them. A good non-exec with marketing knowledge could, for example, champion the voice of the market.
Lead generation – some closing thoughts
Finally, imagine I was a prospect visiting your website.
Would the content hold my interest?
Would I be fascinated and eager to discover more?
Would the content talk to me – about my needs and issues?
Would I see a clear advantage that you offer and others don’t?
Would my main questions be answered and my main objections be dealt with?
Would I know what you want me to do next?
Would I remember who you are?
Say you answered ‘no’ or ‘not sure’ to most of those questions. Does that mean you have a website that isn’t interesting, offers no clear advantage to prospects. One that leaves important questions unanswered, leaves me unsure what to do next, and which I wouldn’t remember?
Shouldn’t you fix that?